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Meeting for the second consecutive game, Warren De La Salle-Novi Detroit Catholic Central was anything but a repeat of the Pilots’ 20-6 win in week 8. This time, De La Salle dominated the Shamrocks, 35-14, to win the Catholic League’s Central Division Prep Bowl championship Saturday night in Ford Field. Here are five takeaways:

Air raid: Is it not surprising that a team called the Pilots would air it out? De La Salle relied on its passing game and came up big, with Luke Pfromm throwing four touchdown passes.

“We thought the elements were pretty good and we could throw indoors,” Coach Mike Giannone said. “We didn’t have to fight the wind, we were pretty fortunate that we’ve got some pretty good receivers. We got a little bit of time, Luke can throw it. It’s part of our game that we haven’t shown a lot of, and when the playoffs come, you have to have all dimensions so that you can compete with the real good teams, a team like Catholic Central. You can’t just pound it at ‘em all the time.”

The approach even surprised Pfromm somewhat.

“Coming into the game, I thought it was going to be more smash-mouth, or head-to-head runs and stuff,” he said. “They have a great defense so we spread them out, and it worked, so we kept rolling with it.”

Big plays, big players: Most of the TDs went long distance -- Pfromm had two scoring plays covering 57 and 56 yards to Jacob Badalamenti, and connected with Joshua DeBerry on a screen play that went for 73 yards.

“It was pretty sweet,” Badalamenti said. “I just rely on my speed – I go, and I’ve got to catch the ball. Luke Pfromm’s got the greatest arm in the state. He can throw the ball real far and he can throw with some accuracy; he’s the best quarterback in the state.”

Pfromm said, “It’s great that Coach G showed some trust in me and I got the ball to my athletes, and they did the job. Jake Badalamenti, Josh DeBerry, Evan Vaillancourt; those guys are sure-handed, they run great routes, they get open, they’re smart, so it’s easy to stay right there and find the open guy.”

Feeling blue: On the heels of a 20-6 De La Salle victory just last week, Catholic Central coach Dan Anderson said his team was thrown for a loop after the Pilots adjusted up their attack. Even though the loss dropped Catholic Central to 5-4, Anderson is fairly confident that his team can earn an at-large playoff berth based on their strength of schedule.

“We’ve had some people tell us that 5-4 would be get us in, and hopefully, like I told the kids, we live to play another day,” he said. “It’s a brand-new season. We’re going to see a lot of good teams in the playoffs, so we’ve got to come back together, figure out what we’re doing right, figure out what we’re doing wrong, and keep going on the right path.”

We are the champions: Catholic Central has won 23 Catholic League football championships – tops among the league -- and De La Salle has won just won three, so that magnified Saturday’s victory for the 7-2 Pilots.

“The challenge was 1957, 2008, and now, winning this game here,” Giannone said. “That’s all you’ve got to say; it’s that simple. We’re pretty proud of our guys. Ninety years of De La Salle football, and this is the third time we’ve won the Prep Bowl. We’re very excited for our fans; our coaches have done a great job.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve got that done, and to come out here and put on a show, for the whole program, it just feels great,” Pfromm said.

Badalamenti says De La Salle is capable of even more, such as a repeat of their 2014 state title season.

“I have great confidence in our team,” he said. “I think our team’s the best team in the state – no other team could beat us. We’ll be back here soon enough – we’ll be winning the state championship.”

Come-up comeback: Prior to the season, all the coaches in the Catholic League’s Central Division predicted De La Salle would finish fourth out of the four teams, but the forecast was ultimately inverted with the Pilots topping Catholic Central, Birmingham Brother Rice and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.

How did Giannone respond to that?

“I don’t know if too many fourth-place teams get trophies like this,” he said. “I guess we beat the odds.”